St Thomas birth Q - can anyone help possibly?

[ekpip]

Hi everyone,

First post on here so I hope I'm putting my Q in the right place and I thank you all in advance for your advice!

I am due to have my baby late Sept at St T's in London. I haven't yet decided whether to go private there in the Landswell/stick with the NHS...

From having a read on here it looks like the general feedback is that the birth was fine on the NHS but that the post natal ward is pretty bad. I was wondering though, if you have your baby in the home from home unit there do you get to keep your room and hence not have to go to the ward? A friend of mine told me she got to keep her room in the home from home there and her husband was able to stay and then they went home together the following day... but I wasn't sure if this is standard or it depends on availability/normally you end up on the ward?

Any help appreciated on this Q and any more general feedback on St T's/whether private there was worth it...

Thanks again,

EKPip x

I think that would have depended on availability. I had my baby in the labour ward where they were brilliant and then three nights on the post natal ward which was not brilliant! Midwives etc all fine but other babies crying plus Big Ben chiming every hour meant not a lot of sleep. If you can afford it I'd go private. But then maybe one night on the ward would've been OK!

With dd1 I started in home from home but ended up getting moved to the labour ward because I went to 42 weeks in the middle of my labour. I don't think you could guarantee even if you started in home from home that you would end there or that you would get to stay - I think it would depend on timing/how full the various wards were. With dd2 I spent a night in the high dependency ward then ended up getting moved in a rush to postnatal to free up the bed.

Another option would be to have baby on the NHS and then get a private postnatal midwife as they can be a big help when you go home.

Thank you all, really appreciate the advice. I think one thing that's hard as a first time Mum is that I'm trying to plan things which I don't really understand and which, it seems, are impossible to plan to some degree anyway!!

I had my daughter there via the Lansdell Suite in 2009 after a dodgy post-natal NHS experience at another hospital with my son in 2006. Can't recommend it highly enough - fabulous care, very relaxing, lovely staff, lots of peace of mind, lots of breastfeeding support, were shocked when I wanted to go home after 2 nights and told me to take my time etc etc

Was it essential? No. And if we'd have had to struggle to pull the money together I'm not sure how we'd feel as it wasn't necessary for my or my daughters health or anything like that.

But I transferred at 20 weeks as I was continually bleeding through the pregnancy, never saw the same staff twice at my local hospital, wanted a VBAC with proper support and seriously felt it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I got my consultants mobile number and could call him directly at any time of the day or night (he was lovely!).

So for peace of mind and a lovely, relaxing experience (despite the fact I had to have a second c-section in the end anyway) it was worth it to us. But it ain't cheap. And you could end up having a similar experience on the NHS ward there dependent on how busy they were, what staff were on etc. You just couldn't guarantee it.

Happy for you to PM me if you want to know anymore.

Had my daughter at the Home from Home in 2010. Positive experience with a natural water birth. I stayed for 36 hours in the Home from home and that was when it was really busy..(though I didnt see anyone else I heard them!!). I did end up back on postnatal ward because DD had jaundice and we were readmitted. It was hell but I did get some excellent breastfeeding advice. IMHO I think you are best off hiring a doula and saving yourself thousands...The doctors on.Landsell are the same and having had an amazing Home Birth for my second child, it was the continuity of care which made the difference. I felt so supported and special and I think you could get that with a doula as well. My home birth was NHS by the way

Had dd there in December, home from home, great birth experience lovely midwife. Gave birth at 5am, dd had to go to nicu later that day, at night they needed the room back so said I needed to be transferred to postnatal ward, I think if it had been quiet they would have let me stay. However they were very kind, and probably because baby was sick, they rang down and arranged for me to have a private e suite room. I was very lucky.